Clarke had earlier noted that the congress refused to fund counterterrorism efforts. Here he describes how the heads of the departments themselves resisted such funding. Clarke confesses that, by 1995, he had enough experience dealing with the FBI and CIA to doubt whether they could be of any assistance.

Aum Shinrikyo's releasing sarin gas in a Tokyo subway in 1995 led to an emergency session of the CSG: John O'Neill, an FBI agent, found the Aum in the Manhattan telephone book. Clarke discovers that, again, the military is unable-- or unwilling--citing posse comitatus--to act. The Aum, however, had only an empty office is Manhattan: the need for emergency response was averted, again.

One of the CSG's first discoveries--learned from a defector--was that the Soviets had had chemical weapons programs. Secretary of State James Baker finally persuaded the former Soviet Union to destroy their stockpiles and allow some...